‘Major tech bungle’ sees scores of private Moira Deeming documents pubbed online at critical time
Hundreds of pages of private correspondence between exiled MP Moira Deeming and her contacts have been accidentally published online, just days before her defamation case against Opposition Leader John Pesutto is set to hit court.
Victoria
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Hundreds of pages of private correspondence between exiled MP Moira Deeming and her contacts have been accidentally published online just days before her defamation case against Opposition Leader John Pesutto is set to hit court.
Exchanges with staff, parliament security officers, journalists and British women’s rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen were all accessible via a Federal Court link on Friday in what has been described as “a major tech bungle”.
Emails, X messages, texts and WhatsApp material contained in 66 documents which were made available to the court earlier this month were accessible for over an hour via a hyperlink embedded in a document published by the court.
They had not yet been tendered as evidence, and it was not clear that they ultimately would be.
However, they were accessible and able to be downloaded for over an hour through a link contained in a letter from Mrs Deeming’s lawyers to Mr Pesutto’s lawyers that was published by the court.
The material formed part of a second tranche of documents produced by Mrs Deeming as part of her discovery obligations ahead of the trial.
Because of the high profile nature of the case the court in May established an online file in which documents of interest could be published.
The letter was published following a pre-trial hearing in which the parties argued about the production of documents.
Legal sources said the link should have been killed by Mrs Deeming’s lawyers.
In producing the documents to Mr Pesutto’s legal team, lawyers for Mrs Deeming said they included those that “on the broadest view we took were discoverable”.
“We still do not accept your contention that all communications between Mrs Deeming and journalists relating to or referring to the nominated topics in the NTP (notices to produce) are discoverable,” they said.
“Nonetheless, Mrs Deeming has now discovered all documents (of which, after a reasonable search, she is aware) which are in her control that were her communications with journalists that adversely affect her case, support Mr Pesutto’s case, or adversely affect Mr Pesutto’s case.”
Mrs Deeming’s case centres on claims Mr Pesutto accused her of having Nazi links and “conducting activities in a manner likely to bring discredit on the parliament or the Parliamentary Party.”
Mr Pesutto vehemently denies he has defamed her.
MPs are preparing to testify during the trial while senior party figures are bracing for a potentially messy fallout.
Liberal powerbrokers have been desperate for Mr Pesutto to reach a private settlement with Mrs Deeming fearing the case is both distracting to his job, but also damaging to the party’s brand especially as a federal election draws nearer.
Mr Pesutto has already reached private settlements with Ms Keen and local activist Angela Jones who each launched their own defamation actions.
It was Mrs Deeming’s attendance at a Let Women Speak rally with Ms Keen and Ms Jones that sparked moves to initially expel her from the party.
She was serving a nine-month suspension from the parliamentary wing of the party when she issued an initial concerns notice against Mr Pesutto.
Following the move five of her colleagues moved a motion to expel her which ultimately succeeded.
The Deeming affair has caused a wide rift within the party, and could see at least eight MPs testify in court during the three week trial.
Some will appear as witnesses for Mrs Deeming while the others will appear for Mr Pesutto.
The High Court has previously ruled that documents produced through the discovery process cannot, without leave of the court, be published before being received into evidence.
Originally published as ‘Major tech bungle’ sees scores of private Moira Deeming documents pubbed online at critical time
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